Well, it is LST after the beheading...Dunno if I'd call that LST though
SIP - Pity Do Dah, SIP - Pity A
- Thread starter Buds Buddy
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Thanks Azimuth! I agree this is a whole new world for me. Quick question….. Can i just refill reservoir as needed or do you let it go dry for a few days? I would think I can just refill when it’s empty because of the air gap and the wicking process. I filled last Saturday and today (Sunday) the reservoir is empty, so I was planning a refill. Thought I should ask before I do it. Thanks!Well, you'd probably have to work at it to screw it up. Honestly, it's hard to believe the first few times you grow in these things. It looks so much like a fluke especially since you really didn't do much different from what you normally do. Same grow mix, same nutes, everything.
I tease Buds sometimes since he went thru what most of us do. The plants are so much bigger and healthier that we're afraid we won't be able to duplicate it again next time and we don't know what we did to produce such a profound difference.
But get used to it. I think that these pots really just allow the plant to express itself to its fullest extent of its genetics. Most of us stunt the plant in various ways throughout a grow. With autos its just more obvious since you can't simply extend veg to compensate. These pots eliminate watering issues which are the biggest challenge to most growers.
With nutes, you either followed the explicit instructions or you didn't. Same for temperature and environment. But with watering it's so much more subjective. "Water when the pot feels light" really tells you nothing without some experience, and getting that experience only comes by getting it wrong. SIPs eliminate that issue entirely and then add the hidden magic of the air gap and a constant supply of water and nutrients so the plant can help itself.
I find it hard to imagine growing any different now that I know the secret.
Once the plant is growing strongly, I just keep the reservoir topped off each day. But, as long as there is water in the reservoir the plant will have what it wants. It does affect the moisture level in the pot to some degree, but not enough to matter all that much. But I don't ever let it go dry for days. Eventually it will drain the reservoir daily and then you can decide if you want to fill it more than once a day.
Awesome! Thanks for the clarification!
I ran coco all summer without checking ph.
But my coco is alive.
So it pampers the roots.
Don't know about your reservoir.
5.8?
Start in a solo Solo, get a root ball and uppot.
Best practice IMO
Quicker too.
Only takes a few days when done right.
Take care Buds.
Stay safe
Bill284
Unless you're growing in a SIP. In that case, the water seeking roots you spend time developing will essentially be wasted as the plant will then spend time developing the small feeder roots it will use in these pots.Start in a solo Solo, get a root ball and uppot.
Best practice IMO
Quicker too.
Only takes a few days when done right.
- Thread starter
- #707
I usually start my Photo's in Solo's or 1 gal. I just went with final pot since they are Auto's.I ran coco all summer without checking ph.
But my coco is alive.
So it pampers the roots.
Don't know about your reservoir.
5.8?
Start in a solo Solo, get a root ball and uppot.
Best practice IMO
Quicker too.
Only takes a few days when done right.
Take care Buds.
Stay safe
Bill284
I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's condition and her current distress Buds. I hope she's getting the best care she can and isn't in pain. 
- Thread starter
- #709
Thanks Shed ! She went back in the hospital yesterday. I don't think she's ben home more than 3 days at a time for the past 2-3 months & then right back in the hospital. It's making things really hard to keep up with. Trying to pay bills is hell because I don't know the User ID's or passwords because she changed them all the time. Going to have to call everyone to pay my bills I guess & get help changing the sign in info. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't suck on computers.I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's condition and her current distress Buds. I hope she's getting the best care she can and isn't in pain.
- Thread starter
- #710
Well, we're getting a little closer to harvest on my Aurora Indica's. This one is the Aurora that has been in the tent the whole grow & was fed twice per day. I've stayed on 5.5 gr. per gal. all through flower. This one still has a good 50% white pistils. Not sure why she's so far behind the other one. I'm guessing at least another week, maybe more. I think I'll get a decent harvest out of her as she has some nice fat buds.
Here's a few pics.
This is the Aurora that was in the shed until about 2 weeks ago. Now this one is about done. She only has about 10% white hairs so I'll check the Trichs later today. She's not as big as the other one, but still a decent size. I expect to harvest her any day now.
Here's a few pics.
This is the Aurora that was in the shed until about 2 weeks ago. Now this one is about done. She only has about 10% white hairs so I'll check the Trichs later today. She's not as big as the other one, but still a decent size. I expect to harvest her any day now.
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- #711
Here is the GG Auto. She's about 2 weeks old now. This morning I Topped her & removed the bottom 2 nodes, leaving only 4 nodes to work with. I'll LST once the branches grow out enough.
Here is the Banana Purple Punch that I removed from the SIP & put in a Solo Cup. She's stunted ! I'll leave her in the Solo & see if things turn around, but I doubt it.
This is the Godzilla Cookies I started about 3 days ago. You can't really see it in the pic but she's starting to break ground. Looks like it's going to be stunted too from what I'm seeing. I will not try a 4th seed in Coco. I'd rather lose the money on Coco then using up all my seeds trying in Coco. Just not worth it & I'm having a hell of a time trying to get a plant started. Never have any issues with soil, so I guess I should stick with what I'm good at.
OK, now for my harvest update. So I got enough weed from the tent "Cherry On Top" 2 fill these 2 bowls. I jar it as I weigh it up. The total dry weight from this plant is 468 gr. or 1-lb. + 20 gr. I split it up evenly (156 gr. ea.) into 3 of my 1 gal. jars for curing.
Here is the Banana Purple Punch that I removed from the SIP & put in a Solo Cup. She's stunted ! I'll leave her in the Solo & see if things turn around, but I doubt it.
This is the Godzilla Cookies I started about 3 days ago. You can't really see it in the pic but she's starting to break ground. Looks like it's going to be stunted too from what I'm seeing. I will not try a 4th seed in Coco. I'd rather lose the money on Coco then using up all my seeds trying in Coco. Just not worth it & I'm having a hell of a time trying to get a plant started. Never have any issues with soil, so I guess I should stick with what I'm good at.
OK, now for my harvest update. So I got enough weed from the tent "Cherry On Top" 2 fill these 2 bowls. I jar it as I weigh it up. The total dry weight from this plant is 468 gr. or 1-lb. + 20 gr. I split it up evenly (156 gr. ea.) into 3 of my 1 gal. jars for curing.
Great craftsmanship Buds!
Omg buds they're incredible, good job you have a trimmer the trim would of took weeks lol. Excellent work buddy and the scaffolding you've done on them is good going lolWell, we're getting a little closer to harvest on my Aurora Indica's. This one is the Aurora that has been in the tent the whole grow & was fed twice per day. I've stayed on 5.5 gr. per gal. all through flower. This one still has a good 50% white pistils. Not sure why she's so far behind the other one. I'm guessing at least another week, maybe more. I think I'll get a decent harvest out of her as she has some nice fat buds.
Here's a few pics.
This is the Aurora that was in the shed until about 2 weeks ago. Now this one is about done. She only has about 10% white hairs so I'll check the Trichs later today. She's not as big as the other one, but still a decent size. I expect to harvest her any day now.
- Thread starter
- #714
I do have a Trimmer. Didn't use it though. Just removed the Fan Leaves & hung it to dry, removed the buds & jarred it.
Looked good enough to me without a final trim.
Azi, I don't understand. Please will you explain why / how. I would think that top watering would cause the feeder roots to develop more quickly than wicking?
Hi @Carmen Ray ,
The roots most canna growers typically try for are thick, white, water seeking roots and are cultivated with the wet/dry cycle. When the grow medium starts to dry out, the roots grow longer as they go looking for water.
In SIPs, the roots are quite different because there is no need to go looking for water since the soil stays moist from the water that gets wicked up from the reservoir. They end up being very fine, feeder roots and you can see a good picture of them in the first post in the #SIP Club thread.
Since the plant won't need the water seeking roots, any time and energy the plant spends making them is essentially wasted since it won't need them with our pots. Plus, the plant will have to spend time and energy developing the roots it will use and I've found that period to be pretty consistently 2-3 weeks.
I've got a plant I potted up in a new 2G/8L SIP on 11/1 and it looked like it just sat there for about 14 days while it was busy establishing it's new root structure.
After about 14 days, it started with new growth and at about 21 days the stems started to get their more robust, stronger growth. I use fishing weights in my training rather than string or Carhooks, and the ones I typically use become quite ineffective due to the strength of the stems at about the 4 week mark.
Top watering disrupts the moisture gradient in the pot . I do however mist my mulch layer to keep it moist and I get feeder roots growing right up into it but I don't give it enough to have that moisture fall down into the main grow mix in order to keep the moisture gradient in place.
We typically water from the top only a time or two to get the initial roots heading in the right direction, but unless your pot depth is super big, the moisture will wick fine from the bottom and is the preferred way to do it.
On roots: It fascinates me how robust cannabis is. I don't know if you recall me relating the story about the aMaphondo (Transkei Sativa) being cultivated in the mountains of the Eastern Cape here in SA? Police raids and crop burning chased growers high up into the mountains but to get water up there is a mission. The plants they grow are fed water from the dew that settles overnight. So that would be foliar and feeder roots in my understanding. It amazes me that the plants will grow that way.
I am liking the idea of SIP the more I learn to understand the theory. The examples in the first few pages of the SIPCLUB journal are quite large scale setups in relation to what I could accomplish in my space. Do you know who is working on a micro scale? For instance, I use 5 gallon cloth pots in saucers. You made a suggestion to me before but I couldn't envisage it and it also sounded like a lot more water than my dining room table can handle
I forgot to ask you further questions at the time. Sorry if I am asking you to repeat and repeat. Buds I hope it's ok with you!
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I think that what we are seeing is adaptation. Our weed is very good at adapting to the circumstances it finds itself in. I have seen how water seeping up from the bottom confuses a new seedling, because what is happening there isn't natural. The roots instinctively want to go downward, chasing the water... not the opposite way around, and all of my plants started in SIP experienced profound overwatering symptoms.
Given the time to do it, my plants all adapted to the SIP, after about a 3 week stall. We are all noting that moving to the sip, or starting in one, requires an adaptation period. The plants can handle doing this, but as a result, we experience a stalling out. Once adapted to this continual water seeping up from the bottom, with oxygen also supplied as part of the process, the plants explode with growth. I would expect that upon inspection, we will find that the original tap and feeder roots will have mostly disappeared at the bottom of these SIP adapted plants, with these smaller water adapted spreader roots taking prominence all through the container.
Given the time to do it, my plants all adapted to the SIP, after about a 3 week stall. We are all noting that moving to the sip, or starting in one, requires an adaptation period. The plants can handle doing this, but as a result, we experience a stalling out. Once adapted to this continual water seeping up from the bottom, with oxygen also supplied as part of the process, the plants explode with growth. I would expect that upon inspection, we will find that the original tap and feeder roots will have mostly disappeared at the bottom of these SIP adapted plants, with these smaller water adapted spreader roots taking prominence all through the container.
Yeah, me. I've recently moved up from flowering in 1L containers up to my now massive 2G/8L buckets.
My flower space is 1m wide x 1m tall by about half that deep. My buckets work great in that space. I do have to train them to stay short which I do with Quadlining, but I'll bet your dining room table offers more real estate than that. Even after carving out a corner to eat your meals.
I was using three buckets in a perpetual harvest setup but have moved on to only two as the SIP plants are so much larger and I don't really need that much output.
5 G buckets may be too big for that space using SIPs. You can reference @Buds Buddy 's plants for a visual on that. But my 2G buckets work great.
True for me which is why I've adopted a start-up routine for my seedlings and new clones. Basically, I pot them up in slightly damp grow mix and top water right down the stem one time. After a week or so I put a little water in the reservoir as a prize for the roots when they get down there since when the plants are small they won't use anything in the reservoir to start. This avoids the overwatering droop. I don't think the droop hurts them much and I haven't noticed much faster adaptation with this method but it seems like avoiding the droop should be a net positive and less stress for the young plant.
It seems to me the stall period is one where the roots are morphing to the ones they will use in these pots. I potted up a well established clone on 11/1 and it took about 14 days to start to see some growth, and another week before it really started taking off and building the much more robust stems I find characteristic with these pots. So I just build that transition period into my perpetual harvest grow now. I let the plant establish for 2 weeks and then veg for 4 more and then flip. So I now run two plants in a 6 week staggard harvest rather than 3 plants in a 4 week one.
On my recent harvest I wasn't able to detect any tap root in the bottom of the pot. It was filled with the very fine feeder roots, though, and there did seem to be two distinct layers of these roots but that may have more to do with how I wrestled the plant out of the pot. I'll be more careful next round and see if I see the same thing. I do have a nice thick mulch layer, though, which may account for the upper root layer.